After Pilot, several others may leave Congress. Congress is all set for another great split

Sachin Pilot, the young and dynamic leader from Rajasthan who rebelled against the Congress party has nullified any chances of joining BJP, and said, “For five years, I have worked hard battling the BJP. As part of Rajasthan Congress, I worked to oust the BJP and bring in a Congress government. If someone is making political overtures, it can’t be made out that I will join them.” He further said,

There is no question of joining the BJP”

Pilot is young, educated and hard-working and has the support of two dominant caste groups, therefore, a CM figure in every sense. But, if he joins BJP, the people of the state would take him like just another power-hungry opportunist. Therefore, joining BJP could be politically suicidal for him in the long-term.

However, if he splits Congress and floats a new outfit with the support of other young leaders who feel suffocate in the grand old party like- Milind Deora, Jitin Prasada, Priya Dutt, Sanjay Nirumpam, it would be a huge setback for the Nehru Gandhi family.

After Pilot left the party, Prasada subtly supported his decision and tweeted, “Sachin Pilot is not just a collegues but my friend. No one can take away the fact that all these years he has worked with dedication for the party. Sincerely hope the situation can still be salvaged. Sad it has come to this.”

Priya Dutt, prominent Congress leader from Maharashtra, also showed her support to the party and wrote, “Another friend leaves the party both sachin and jyotirajya were colleagues & good friends unfortunately our party has lost 2 stalwart young leaders with great potential. I don’t believe being ambitious is wrong. They have worked hard through the most difficult times.”

Milind Deora, a prominent politician from Maharashtra, has consistently ridiculed Congress’s central leadership and hold of the old guards on the Congress party. Contrary to Congress’ extreme left political positions, he has taken a more centrist stance and supported many of the Modi government’s decisions. 

Tharoor, who argued for reform in Congress party to align it as centrist instead of left, could also leave the old guards if Pilot floats a new outfit. “I passionately believe that our country needs a genuinely liberal party headed by centrist professionals committed to inclusive politics and respectful of India’s pluralism. All who believe in the founding values of the Republic must work to strengthen @INCIndia not undermine it,” tweeted Tharoor on July 12 after Pilot left and has embedded it as pinned tweet now.

Sanjay Jha, another professional and corporate executive who was sidelined by the party for criticizing central leadership led by the family, tweeted, “For five years Sachin Pilot gave his blood, tears, toil and sweat for the Congress party between 2013-18. The Congress came back from a wretched 21 seats to 100. We just gave him a performance bonus. We are so meritocratic. We are so transparent.” 

Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s family in Haryana could also join the new outfit as they are not satisfied with Congress’s central leadership. 

If Sachin Pilot floats a new party, he could easily rout the grand old party in Rajasthan, and if other leaders from across the country join, the old Congress could vanish altogether in next few years. 

To get an idea of how he could sway the election in Rajasthan, look at what Jaganmohan Reddy did in Andhra Pradesh. After Congress high command refused to make him CM face, Reddy formed a party in the name of his father- YSR Congress Party- who was a popular leader and won 2019 assembly election with a humongous majority, routing Congress support base.

Sachin Pilot’s father- Rajesh Pilot- was also a popular leader and he could adopt the playbook by Jaganmohan to defeat Congress as well as BJP. Even if his party would not get majority numbers, BJP would be more than willing to offer him outside support to keep Congress out of power.

So far, Congress was routed by regional parties in non-Hindi speaking states one by and these parties were floated by former Congress leaders drifted away. 

Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, Neiphu Rio in Nagaland, Jaganmohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, PA Sangma in Meghalaya are few leaders who finished Congress altogether in their state or made it third or further major players.

This time, if Sachin floats a new party with leaders like Hooda, Prasada, and Chautala- it would be first genuine attempt to finish Congress in Hindi heartland. If the new party succeeds, the old party is going to terminate just like Congress (organization) was eliminated by Indira Gandhi’s Congress (I) in the late 1960s.